Consensus statement on information sharing

Families bereaved by suicide have expressed concern about their experiences with services, and issues of confidentiality. They raised concerns that practitioners can seem reluctant to take information from families and friends or give them information about a person’s suicide risk. The Department of Health, working in consultation with other organisations, developed a consensus statement to promote greater sharing of information in 2014, this was was subsequently updated and republished in 2021, to reflect the current legal position including the implementation of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The updated version can be found below.
Alongside the updated consensus statement, the Department of Health and Social Care also commissioned the Zero Suicide Alliance to produce guidance for frontline staff on how to use the Consensus Statement and how to engage with patients when discussing confidentiality and consent to share information; this guidance, SHARE: consent, confidentiality and information sharing in mental healthcare and suicide prevention, can be found below.